Inuit

The Inuit live in Canada, Alaska and Greenland. There was a time when all women had a chin tattoo. A symbol of beauty and maturity.

The operation is very painful, however. The shaman sews the pattern into the skin with a stained thread. Then he pulls the thread out, and the tattoo remains.

To encourage the girls, they are told a scary story. If you don't have tattoos, evil spirits will use your skull as a drip tray for their oil lamps after you die.

By the time girls reach puberty, they beg their parents to receive the first lines on their chin. More will be added when they marry and bear children.